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The Quest for Perfection
By William R Trotter IT WAS NOT your typical classified ad "WANTED: HERO. No experience necessary. Visit beautiful Spielburg. Fight monsters. Defeat brig ands. Reward and title of 'Hero of Spielburg' to the successful applicant." This alluring job descrip tion formed the introduc tion to 1989s Quest for Glory I: So You Want to Be a Hero? Evidently, a lot of game players did, since they answered this ad in the tens of thousands. What they discov ered was a gaming experience unlike any other. Sierra was already known for its colorful and varied series of graphic adventures (indeed, the company may be said to have defined the genre); to those tried-and-true design elements, QFG I added deep and highly addictive elements of the role playing genre. The result was something special. QFG I was a compelling mix of characters and quests, seamlessly wrapped lip inside a real story. No mindless hack-and-slash dungeon crawls along a predetermined path. Players could adopt whatever role they feit most attracted to—Thief. Fighter, Interaction Magazine Spring 1 9 9 B ImS Magician—and their gaming experience would be significantly different accord ingly. Each type of would-be hero had the same ultimate goal: to be crowned "Hero of Spielburg," but each had to follow a very different path: Magicians solved puzzles and overcame obstacles using spell casting, Fighter-heroes sim ply bashed through resistance employing their martial prowess, while Thieves needed to find deviously subtle methods of advancing their quest. This formula may seem self-evident now, almost 10 _ years later, but at W the time QFC I appeared, it was new and refreshingly different. The gaming market | p ' was already glutted with generically similar role playing games that seemed trapped in a lock-step formula: explore the dungeons, build up your points by killing an endless stream of monsters and evil mages, then engage in a climactic duel with the Boss Monster (a cliched formula known as the "Kill the-Foozle" syndrome). Play through such a game one time, and you've seen pretty much all there is to see. QFG A however, introduced the then revolutionary concept of "replayabil ity." By starting each game anew as a different type of character, you got to experience a whole new set of chal lenges and different plot twists. It was like getting three games for the price of one, and con sumers loved It. The success of the first game, of course, generated clamor for a sequel, and sequels soon followed. In all of them, the husband-and-wife team, I .on and Corey Cole, imaginatively eschewed the bogus medievalisms of so many Tolkien-inspired games. QFC If: Trial tty Fire had an Arabian Nights flavor; QFC HI The Wages of War was set in the veldts and jungles of a mythi cal, but still recognizable. Africa; and QFC IV Shadows of «jm r X iSaiKi /ay*! and /jUssaJJa-v/itijiij ii fsiUKjfuJ cuutttxL.. Darkness transported the player to Mordavia, an east European country with a decided resemblance to Transylvania. One ingredient of the series* continued success was the Coles' propensity for using real mythological characters—such as Baba Yaga and Russalka—within a fanciful context governed by the evolving internal logic of the games. More, Ken...Please!! By 1993. Sierra had published four QFC games, and while fans naturally had their favorites and their somewhat less-than-favorites, players who'd fallen under the spell of the first game remained intensely loyal as the cycle matured, while tens of thousands of new fans came on board with each new installment. And then the series ran into a metaphorical brick wall: Sierra announced that QFG IV: Shadows of Darkness would be the final game. The reasons had less to do with the products themselves than with chang ing circumstances in the PC gaming marketplace. Technology exploded; the KM ailed "Hollywood Paradigm" extended its venture-capital tenta cles throughout the industry; and the series was deemed a wrap. Fans of the QFG series were not happy campers when they learned that Shadows of Darkness was the "official" end of the series. Thev bombarded the company with email, snail-mail, phone calls, and long-range mystical incantations, pleading, demanding, begging for MORE. Some QFG addicts threatened hunger strikes and self-immolation (not too sure how serious the latter entreaties were, but who wants to have that on their conscience?). Sierra's co-founder. Ken Williams, decided that Dragon Fire simply had to be reinstated on the agenda, and pulled out all the stops to make it happen. He knew Lori Cole was the only person who could see the project through in a manner that would satisfy the fans (husband Corey was, by that time, tied into other commitments). "Sierra made an irresistible offer," Lori says. "Everything that was on our wish-list' for the final game, we could have: the time, the budget, and the cre ative resources to do it right. All the symbolic and thematic threads, all the evolving character relationships, every element that tied the whole series together in one great narrative arc, all of these things had to come together to form a truly satisfying climax. And now Sierra was offering the resources to do that. How could I resist?" True to the Coles' tradition of embla zoning each game with a unique geo graphical environment, Quest for dory V Dragon Ftre, the final episode, derives its overall mood and appear ance from Greek mythology. There's a visually stunning sequence, for exam ple, set in what could only be the ruins of legendary Atlantis. The game takes place on the island of Marete, and the action centers on its fortress-capital, Silmaria. The customs and ambiance are inspired by the great Minoan civilization of Crete, and Marete itself—with its glowing beaches, azure skies, and quaint seaside villages — looks like the kind of Aegean island you might see in a Club Med advertise jl^lH^1 ment. Within this fantasy world, in fact, the place is regarded as a lush resort, widely favored by the leisured and wealthy. But when the game opens, there's big trouble in this paradise: A mysteri ous assassin has just slain the Ruler with a poisoned dagger, Silmaria is besieged by a mercenary army from Hispania, the once-peaceful fishing villages are now havens for blood thirsty sea-reavers, and the countryside is plagued by monsters. As if these problems were not enough, the land is also gripped by fear of an ancient prophecy that foretells of a terrible dragon whose appearance is imminent. Sounds like our Hero has his work cut out for him. He can become the Ruler of this glorious realm, but first he must pass the Seven Rites of Kingship: Courage, Freedom. Valor, Destiny, NDof EXCELLENCm Be honest. One of the first things you usually 60 when embarking on a long adventure game, is shut off „ soundtrack. Once you'vi heard the first sevprr or eight minutes of it.voifV* heard everything^ou're going to hear faf the1 next 30 hours .-time. Repetitious ality has been the norm. Thanks to the work of com poser Chance Thomas, Sierra Intends to break that pattern with utcgon Fire. Available parately on CD, the game's soundtrack (containing a bonus extended playable demo of tfte game) is avail able at www.sierra.com — well worth playing for own sake. ink we've set a new standard with the CD of Dragon Fire's music. Long after the player has finished the game and put it on his shelves, he can still recap ture the mppdJjy listening W . .core — moody. colorful, exquisitely orches trated—does indeed set a new standard. It's as good as anything you're likely to hear in a theater, and it's certain to "raise the bar" for other game companies. vj uqilurs aysry jjuuJ'., granny, and uuyJy ul [SiJiiistria's lush, ijiyiw^uJuiJUJj, 'JD huiibeapa The First Bank of Silmaria is wa latest in anti-Thief technology. rfith the You can prove your valor, as well as pick up a few drachma, in the combat arena. The awe-inspriring Dryads of the woods are sources of great, though cryptic, wisdom. v well. As he attempts to fulfill these quests, he will encounter a beautiful woman who could become his destined mate... but winning her will not be easy in an environment so filled with treachery, intrigue, and danger. Fans of the series will meet old friends such as Rakeesh and Erasmus, learn new skills (pocket-picking and swimming are two of the most useful), discover some powerful new Paladin (a superior class) abili ties, and learn to wield new weapons such as the fee Diamond, the Slasher-Dagger, and the Dragon Slayer You'll navigate through the game world by means of a silky smooth, third-person cinematic viewpoint that provides unprece dented freedom to explore every nook, cranny, and angle of Silmaria 's lush, high-resolu tion, 3D landscape. If you're already a QFG fan, the above-listed peeks should already have you salivating... and those are only a few of the highlights. Conquest, Peace, and Justice. He must also find the source of the dragon prophecy and quell that fearsome beast. If that isn't enough, he must also track down the assassin, whose list of |>oteiiti;il victims includes not only our Hero, but all of his friends as Where Does the Series Go from Here? But as Dragon Fire's release date draws near, Lori's still besieged by fans who simply don't want the series to end. She's adamant about this matter, how ever, and for strong reasons: "Every great novel, no matter how much you want it to go on and on, has to have a climax that caps everything that's gone before, wraps up the loose ends, resolves the conflicts, and brings down the final curtain. This game completes an epic saga. Your hero, who was so unsure of him self and hesitant at the start, really has become a hero. If the adventures just kept rambling on through ever more diluted sequels, then what's the significance of the series as a whole? Without a rousing climax, all the events and challenges you experienced in earlier games really lose their meaning. In Dragon Fire, your destiny is fulfilled, your quest is triumphantly concluded. You've made a difference in this fantasy world, you've done it all, you've become a hero of legendary stature, and now you have the opportunity to become a great ruler. The hero has earned his rest, and I think it's very satisfying to let him live out the rest of his life in your imagination." Lori is understandably proud that this fifth and final Quest for Glory game will stand as a benchmark in gaming history. It pushes the technological envelope and achieves a synthesis of graphic beauty, sonic splendor, and sheer storytelling power that fulfills every dream inherent in the original concept. How many artists—in any storytelling medium—can witness their vision turn into reality on such ideal terms? /?